Complete Vista Guide to Kessex Hills

September 17, 2012 - 5:42am -- jeffprime

Guild Wars 2 offers the player many rewards for exploring the world of Tyria. One of the rewards a player can experience when traveling through the game's various zones is interacting with Vistas. When a player interacts with a vista, they are treated to a short cinematic mini-movie that showcases the local area in lush detail.

Vistas in Guild Wars 2 take the form of a scroll hovering in midair within a pillar of light. To interact with the vista and start the cutscene, the player has to hit [F] on their keyboard when they are adjacent to the scroll. While some vistas are easily reached by simply walking up to them, others are harder to reach and may require completing a jumping puzzle to get to.

While watching the cinematic cutscenes are a treat in of themselves, they do offer other benefits to the Guild Wars 2 player. Vistas count towards the completion total of both the local zone and the world and the player also gains xp when they interact ("discover") with a vista for the first time.

Kessex Hills, the second zone that human players will usually adventure in, has a grand total of nine vistas to discover. A player will know the number of vistas by looking at the loading screen when entering a zone or at any time in the map legend for that area. A vista is identified on maps (you open a map by hitting the [M] key) with two red triangles.

Indicates a vista that has not been discovered

Indicates a vista that has been discovered

Vista #1 - Black Haven

The first vista in the Kessex Hills is located in the Black Haven fortress in the Delanian Foothills, which is to the far east of the zone. The vista is located on top of a tower in the fortress. To reach the vista, run up the ramp to the tower. Go inside the tower and go up the stairs. Once you've gone up the stairs, you'll see a wooden walkway on the side of the tower. Jump onto the wooden walkway and run up it. You'll have to do a few jumps onto some higher ledges and then a second walkway heading up. Continue going up and you'll have to jump onto a few more higher ledges and then onto the roof itself where you can then interact with the vista.

Vista #2 - Wizard's Fief

Our next vista is located in the Wizard's Fief section of the zone, which can be found in the southeast. You'll have to travel up through the mountains and head northeast from Isgarren's View. To get to this vista, all you have to do is drop down from the mountain ledge onto the lower ledge where the vista is located. After viewing the vista, you can jump down or hug the mountain and climb down towards the town of Garrenhoff. As I've noted in Five Offbeat Destinations in Tyria, the area from where you'll jump down to the vista has strawberries you can harvest and also has diving goggles you can pick up if you feel like doing some cliff diving.

Vista #3 - Cereboth Canyon

The third vista is found in the Cereboth Canyon section of the zone. This vista is located halfway up a cliff and next to a huge waterfall. To reach this vista, you'll have to jump down from the top of the waterfall on the western side of the river. Just jump down and interact with the vista once you've picked yourself up off the ground.

Vista #4 - Giant's Passage

The fourth vista in the Kessex Hills is in the Giant's Passage area of the zone. This vista is located high on a mountain, but getting to it is pretty easy. To reach the vista, you'll have to start going up the mountain from the far north. The point you're looking for is where the road bends on the southeast side of the Earthworks Bluff. Just keep going up the mountain, staying towards the right, and you'll run right into the vista. There are a number of bandits on the trail where you first start heading up and later on, there will be a cave of ettins on your left. Just stay away from the ettins and hug towards the right (the north) side of the mountain and you'll be fine.

Vista #5 - Earthworks Bluff

Vista number five is found to the west of the Earthworks Bluff. The vista is located on top of a platform where logging is going on. To reach the vista, you'll have to climb/jump up the logs piled to the right side of the platform. From the top of the log pile, you can jump onto the platform ledge and then move along it until you reach the vista.

Vista #6 - Quarryside

Our next vista in Kessex Hills can be found at the Quarryside point of interest. This vista is pretty easy to get to but does require a little bit of jumping. To reach the vista, go up the ramp inside the quarry until you can see the vista. You'll see a walkway on your left that you can jump onto. Run along the walkway until you come to a series of jumps. Make the jumps from platform to platform (they're all on the same level) and then run up to the vista.

Vista #7 - Lychcroft Mere

The seventh vista is found just east of Lychcroft Mere high up in a tree. To reach this vista, you'll have to jump up the tree, following a path of giant mushrooms, the cliff face, and a branch. Just keep jumping up until you reach the highest mushroom where the vista is located.

Vista #8 - Viathan Lake

The vista found in Viathan Lake is the easiest vista to reach in the Kessex Hills. All you have to do to reach this vista is just swim down. The only thing to watch for are the Krait fishmen that inhabit the area. Also, the Blood Witch spawns nearby so there is a small chance you could get caught up with her.

Vista #9 - Fort Salma

The last vista in the Kessex Hills can be found at Fort Salma. To reach this vista, you'll have to run up the ramp to the walkway on top of the wall. Follow the walkway until you reach the vista. You'll have to hop over a small wall to walk out on the ledge where the vista is located.

There you have it, my friends. I hope that this guide to the vistas found in the Kessex Hills will help you easily navigate your way to some scenic cutscenes. Overall, the vistas found in the Kessex Hills are relatively easy to get to and do not require a ton of diabolical jumping around. Now get out there and enjoy those lush cinematics.